


a place to sleep.

by kilimanjaro



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alcohol, Beta Read, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Nightmare, Present Tense, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:22:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29989029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kilimanjaro/pseuds/kilimanjaro
Summary: “Do you want to talk about it?”Her gaze is stern; knowing. Cutting through him like a cool knife, gently shattering the barrier he so carefully crafted. Like a fool, he continued to resist.-Gray finds himself at the guild at an ungodly hour after waking up from a terrible reoccurring dream. Erza provides him with a bit of comfort.
Relationships: Gray Fullbuster/Erza Scarlet
Kudos: 6





	a place to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Revisiting an old guilty pleasure series led to this, aha. I think GrayZa should have been canon but that’s just my opinion.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy.^^

_ ‘How am I supposed to surpass her now?! She’s dead! She’s dead because of you!’ _

_ Those words rang through the child’s mind as he fell, the world around him fading away as he sank deeper into the abyss. It was like something had grabbed ahold of him - dragging, pulling his tiny body into the deep sea with no intention of letting him go free. He could barely breathe, running on little oxygen. _

_ He didn’t fight it, though. He wouldn’t fight it. Even as the familiar voices called out to him. Pleading for him to open his eyes. To return to them as he was. _

_ ‘Gray! Wake up, damn it...!’ _

_ ‘Please! Open your eyes...!’ _

_ ‘Don’t give up, Gray!’ _

_ ‘Don’t go, Gray-sama...!’ _

_ ‘Don’t do it...! Gray...!’ _

_ ‘Gray....!’ _

_ They blended together, becoming muffled and faint; being carried away to the surface. Growing quieter the further he drifted away. And then from the very bottom of the abyss, something stirs. Something emerges. He opens his eyes and is confronted with the creature shrouded in darkness. It is a massive, humanoid beast covered in scales, it’s dark, hollow eyes staring back at him. They were void of any care. Nothing even resembling a human heart, but it still looked at him with interest - with malicious intent. _

_ Before the monster, the child is consumed with fear and anger like nothing he had ever felt before. It all bubbles beneath the surface, spilling over with the call of a certain name - _

_ “DELIORA!!!!” _

* * *

Gray abruptly sits up in his bed, having awoken in a cold sweat. His pillow is nearly drenched. 

A deep sigh escapes him and he hides his face in his palms.

“That dream again...”

He lifts the comforter off of him, seeing yet another restless night ahead of him. His room is always naturally chilly, enough to give you goosebumps, but tonight it was freezing; his breath appears like an apparition, disappearing before weary eyes. The cold doesn’t bother an Ice-Make mage. Not even as it nicks at his still dampened flesh but, even so, he still found himself seeking warmth. Gray walks towards the window, pushing it open. He grabs his lighter from the nightstand along with a cheap cigarette.

He knows that Erza will probably scold him if she sees him do this. Harshly, too. That makes him shiver more than the cold, crisp air of his own bedroom. Even as he flips open the cap of his lighter, lighting up and breathing in the precious toxins. He felt his body warm up a bit as the image of long scarlet red flashed in his mind. He lets out a puff of smoke.

“Yeah, she’d be real mad.”

Gray smirks.

He finishes his cigarette, it’s light snuffed and then carelessly tossed into a nearby trash bin. He then approached his closet, performing the - by now - pointless act of grabbing a pair of pants and a shirt from his closet. They’ll probably be subconsciously shrugged off later, knowing his luck.

* * *

Gray couldn’t remember when he arrived at the guild house or when he stepped through the front door, but he sits down at the bar as Mirajane greets him. He casually greets her back, the two entering light conversation before he places his order.

The barmaid is quick to bring out his order, placing it on the counter in front of him as familiar footsteps approached from behind.

“You’re here awfully late.”

Gray looks over his shoulder as Erza approaches the bar. She seats herself down beside him, only a single stool acting as a barrier between them. A comfortable distance.

Gray shrugs, taking a conservative sip of the bitter alcohol. It goes down smoothly, burning his throat. On nights like this the sensation was oddly comforting.

“Eh, just one of those nights. I decided to go for a walk, so my feet just kinda carried me here.”

“I see.” Erza hums. “I suppose that makes two of us. I was feeling somewhat restless myself.”

She folds her arms in front of her, resting them on the counter.

“How long?”

“Dunno. A few hours maybe?”

Erza frowns, scarlet locks cascading down her shoulders, catching his eye.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Her gaze is stern; knowing. Cutting through him like a cool knife, gently shattering the barrier he so carefully crafted. Like a fool, he continued to resist.

“Nah, I’m fine.” He lies. “Don’t really have anything to talk about tonight, anyway.”

Erza watches as he takes another sip of his drink.

“You don’t need to act so brave in front of me, Gray.” She says. “If you don’t want to talk about it then I won’t make you.”

She reaches across the barrier, touching his shoulder. She doesn’t speak. She doesn’t need to. She never did.

Gray doesn’t say a word. He closes his eyes...Erza wasn’t wearing any armor, her bare hand mapping out his shoulder. He almost wanted to grab it, regretting it when she pulls away again. She smiles at him.

“Would you like to come to my place?”

* * *

Somehow, Erza managed to convince him to sleep over at her place, though she honestly didn’t have to try very hard. Gray remembers the walk there. The small yet comfortable distance being carefully maintained. Nurtured even. At least until they arrived at her home, where what was left of his barrier melted away under her heated gaze. 

Before her he was defenseless, willingly devoured. 

Once again, Erza takes the lead with Gray following after her. Over and over, their fingers tightly intertwined. 

Gray lays beside her, his head resting on his arm as Erza lays beside him. Facing him. She always looked so soft like this. Almost delicate as she let her guard down completely around him. Enough to peacefully share her bed like this. It wasn’t the first time and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

A ghost of a smile graces his lips. He never told her how grateful he is for her. How much she really means to him. Someday he will, he thought as he closes his eyes and lets himself drift off to sleep.

Maybe on another restless night.


End file.
